• John Braden •
• Originally published January 8, 2009 at 11:03 a.m., updated January 8, 2009 at 11:03 a.m.

In a room filled with empty bookshelves and barren walls, former Matagorda County Sheriff James Mitchell sat at his office desk and looked back on the 27-year tenure he has had with Bay City and the county. Even though his time as sheriff came to an end on Wednesday, Dec. 31, Mitchell had a smile on his face when he said that as far as his career goes, he’s a 48-years-old who isn’t going to quit working. As Mitchell took time to make all of his final preparations and close out last-minute business, he sat down with me for a final interview to take a look back at all of his work in law enforcement. The following conversation took place between myself and Mitchell in his office on Monday, Dec. 22. When did you get your start in law enforcement and how did your career advance to the position it is at now? I started my journey on Jan. 1, 1982, with Bay City Police Department, where I worked patrol for three years under chief Barney Mason. I have to thank him for giving me my start in this profession. From there I moved to the Sheriff’s Office in 1985, where I accepted a position as a jailer. I stayed with Matagorda County for a little over nine years, doing just about everything you can do there. I was a jailer, I did some dispatching, was a night and day deputy and worked all shifts. In 1986, I was promoted to patrol, and in 1989, I was promoted to Sergeant and assigned to the Criminal Investigation Division as an investigator. I stayed there for four and a half years and probably out of everything in my law enforcement career, the position I enjoyed the most was that investigation job. There’s something about getting a case and being able to see it all the way through that I really enjoyed. We would have to work on it, solve it and get into court and be able to prove it. That’s what I really liked to do. During those four and a half years, by coincidence, I worked every homicide Matagorda County had. I left in 1994 and became chief of police for the Bay City Independent School District. It was a great learning experience that gave me supervisory experience and budget experience. I was with the school for three years before I took office as sheriff on Jan. 1, 1997. I was the first republican sheriff ever elected in this county, but in 1998, I switched parties, became a democrat, and won two more times as a democrat. And that’s where I am now. Did you always know you wanted to become sheriff? I always had a strong passion for law enforcement growing up, but it wasn’t something that I always wanted to be. I just really liked helping people. For three years before I got into law enforcement I was a volunteer firefighter for Bay City for the same reason. Do you plan on staying involved with all of the organizations you are a member of after you leave office? I’m still a member of the Red Cross and Lions Club, I’m still involved with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and I’m still a member of the 100 Club. All of these organizations I intend to stay or probably become more active in after the first of the year. Do you want to keep working in the same field and do you plan to ever run for Sheriff again in Matagorda County? At this time I have no intentions of getting back into law enforcement. The election in 2012 is certainly not anything that I am setting my sights on, and I’m probably leaning more towards not. But at the same time, I wouldn’t rule it out. It’s always a possibility, but it just depends on how things go. I’m obviously not going to quit working, and I am looking at a few different options about where to take my career from here. Do you plan on staying in this county? This is my home. I’ve lived my whole life here. I was born here, I graduated from high school here and I have always called this place home. I have no real intentions on leaving. Is there one incident during your career that stands out as the most memorable to you? Looking back, there isn’t really one incident that I remember the most because we went through a lot. Wayne Frieda was my first chief Deputy and he was with me until Nov. 2007. We were able to attack things head-on, lay them out on the table, and fix whatever the problem was. It’s relationships like this that are most memorable to me, not just any single incident, but the long-lasting friendships and partnerships that were made. You can’t always prevent bad things from happening, but with the right team in place, you can deal with any problems you have to. When you have 70 employees and you’re responsible for 35,000 citizens…and right now we are running numbers like 130 to 140 inmates…you know, things are going to happen. But as long as you deal with them openly and honestly and fairly, you will be alright. I think that’s something that we’ve always done. Wayne and I are still very close and I’ll be eternally gratefully for all he has done for me throughout my career. He brought a lot of maturity and experience to my department and that partnership did more for making me successful over the years than any other. Anything else you would like to say to your employees or the citizens of Matagorda County? I grew up here in Bay City and for me to be recognized this way after 27 years in law enforcement is very humbling. Sometimes I don’t know what to say or how to react when I hear the mayor or county judge read a proclamation about me. I’m always going to want to be a part of this community and help it in any way I can. It has been a great experience and I thank everybody who has been involved and helped me along the way. The biggest thanks I have outside my family are my employees. I have spent all my time here trying to make it better for them and I’ve always said and thought that if you take care of your employees, they will give you 100 percent. And what that means in the case of law enforcement is that they will serve the county’s citizens with everything they have. I believe that’s what we’ve done and I will always be thankful for that.

See the entire story, including comments from city and county officials in the Jan. 1, 2009 edition.

• Print
• •
• Share
  • Share this item

    Send this to a friend

    Share on FaceBook

  • Grab the link

    Copy and paste the link:

  • Blog about it

    Blog about this page.

  • Close
• •
• Post a Comment
• •
• Favorite
• •
• Report error
  • Thank you for your submission.
    Error report or correction

    Contact name (optional) Contact phone/e-mail (optional)  

    
  • Close
• •